[kel varson]

I don't want to get into a big discussion on affirmative action but lets just say that the reason laws and practices like that exist is because historically the people in positions of authority were abusing that authority by only giving people chances who looked like them. If there were no abuses of power there would be no need for those sorts of laws. The fact is that it is human nature to gravitate to those whose backgrounds and interests are like your own. Minorities, particularly blacks are about 200-400 years behind the curve in terms of these types of "playing fields." I have to disagree with your somewhat un-informed remarks about Women as well. Just because they don't please you with the way they do their jobs in broadcasting doesn't mean that every single woman is not qualified to do it. What if every male or every white person were judged by the intelligence or competence of a Kevin Federline. "White Males shouldn't be allowed to perform job X because K-Fed is terrible at it." Sounds silly right? But that is how minorities and women get treated on many different things in society. Of course I simplified things to illustrate a point but the point is still sound. When you start using wide sweeping brushes to paint cultures or groups of people, I think you start to tread on thin ice.

I agreed with affirmative action. Not sure it is still needed though, at least in most states. People should indeed be hired on their merit. Women don't belong every place that men are. More than that, there are certain jobs "most" women would not be qualified for. I wouldn't say women aren't qualified for leadership, I just say they don't belong in many leadership positions and I believe this is biblical. Example: President of the United States, Secretary of State, and on a smaller scale Pastor of a Church. There are certain jobs that should be fulfilled by men and only if there are no men who step up, should a women have the job. I wouldn't stop a women from getting into broadcasting, I just think by and large they are more equipped to stay in the kitchen.

[TIMSCAR20]

You guys are assuming that people are hired that are not competent just because they are a minority. The anti-discrimination acts and affirmative action laws do not require you to lower your standards. That is the big misconception. It just means that you have to give opportunities to compete for a position. In the black female reporter analogy earlier, maybe she just needs some more experience in front of the camera. Doesn't mean she is incompetent or shouldn't be on the air. You are acting as if Joe Buck applied and they wanted to hire him but they needed a sista and the got the first one that walked through the door. There are plenty of occupations that don't have a lot of qualified applicants that are minorities and they don't have to worry about penalties from the government. Take Hockey for example. If affirmative action worked the way it is being portrayed by those against it, you would have some non skating fro wearing brothas playing in the NHL. The correlation between incompetence and affirmative action is not accurate. We live in a country that has 97% of it's work force working! There are plenty of opportunities for everyone really for the most part. All these laws were trying to do is prevent the very thing affirmative action gets accused of: Hiring someone who is unqualified because of the color of their skin. There were over qualified minorities and women that were being passed over for their inferior white counterparts. Not the other way around. Show me the white male that is educated and professional that is unemployed or had to change industries or occupation due to minorities and women taking up all his opportunities. This came up at the University of Michigan because they were admitting students based on their ethnicity to fill diversity quotas. I am not for that kind of implementation of affirmative action but the truth is that the students that did not get into Michigan that were white and discriminated against had 100's of options still. It is not like they couldn't go to another school. In the 50's and 60's and certainly prior, minorities were pretty much treated the same way accross the board (I am generalizing a bit to prove a point). The difference is they didn't have 100's of options when they were discriminated against...We can start another thread on this if you wish to discuss further. Sorry for the hijack but I felt I needed to address the things being said about this subject from a black professional's perspective.

[SuperJon]

Hey, in case you didn't know, Jeff Barber is going to determine RD's future, not Jerry.

[TIMSCAR20]

Good job Jon. I did hear that somewhere.

[SuperJon]

Just trying to help.

[whmatthews]

Lets get a new coach to finish out the season!

[SuperJon]

If we lose both games this weekend, I'm gonna push hard for that. I know it won't happen, but a guy can dream...



...or being annoying asking for it.

[Brokeback Flamer]

I find myself attracted not only to FSN b/c of his radio voice but also the piercing intellect. Why does it seem that the only way to support someone is to bash someone else??? I will state again that I had no intent to bash JB, in fact I believe I said that he was going to do a good job. My point is that it seems like (with current notabl exception) that when anyone leaves The Liberty Fold, it is mandatory to bash them to show your support of the current policy. Why not be happy for Rick Reeves? After all he did start the run. Why NOT be happy for Kim Graham? He managed the athletic department very ably. Chuck Birch? Seems to be doing a great job at GW and look what he did while he was here. Dale Gibson? Seems to have known his stuff since he started the Sports Management program here.
The point is still the same and illustrated by some posts. For instance: If somone says they are NOT a fund raiser at an interview, and they are still hired, than who is responsible for hiring that person? Why blame the person being honest? I would RATHER have someone say what they are NOT comfortable doing something than someone saying they CAN do something and finding out later they can not. But also, I would now rather or not that person is a good fit for the position. I am sure that EVERY AD contract has some clause in there about "assisting in the raising of funds for the Athletic Department". At LU, one would have to ask, and rightly so, where does the money go? ANY money raised in the past has ALWAYS gone into what is known as "The Black Hole". When did LU finally get a full time Marketing person? Dedicated fund raising position? Access to the "big money" donors? Things HAVE changed, hopefully for the better. But it is disengenuous, hypocritical and grossly irresponsible to state that THIS is the ONLY AD that he trusts. Added to the "I never made decisions, but now can turn those decisions I never made to someone I trust". That is my rant and I am sticking to it

[A.G.]

Dale Gibson? Seems to have known his stuff since he started the Sports Management program here.

Hey Cowboy. It is SPORT Managment. Right, Haize!

[SuperJon]

I thought the same thing.

It's Haize's fault.

[Purple Haize]

Dale Gibson? Seems to have known his stuff since he started the Sports Management program here.

Hey Cowboy. It is SPORT Managment. Right, Haize!

You are correct sir.